Hon. Chung Eui-yong, Co-Chairman of the Standing Committee and Secretary General of the ICAPP, visited Beijing during January 22-23, 2015. He met with Hon. Chen Fengxiang, Vice Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC) on January 22 and Hon. Ai Ping, former Vice Minister of the IDCPC and Member of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Vice President of the Chinese Association for International Understanding on January 23 respectively, and discussed a wide range of issues regarding the work programs of the ICAPP for 2015 and other issues regarding the future of the ICAPP.

1.Work Program for 2015

CPC appreciated Secretariat’s efforts to maintain appropriate level of activities for the ICAPP in 2015, and endorsed the work program which was prepared by the Secretariat. CPC, in particular, welcomed the offer by the United Malay National Organization (UMNO) to host the 24th SC Meeting in Putrajaya during March 1-4 and by the GOLKAR Party and the PDI-P of Indonesia to host the 25th SC Meeting this year.

2. The future of the ICAPP

CPC also agreed to Secretariat’s judgment that the ICAPP needs time to reflect on its past achievements and give more serious and practical consideration to its strategy for the future. In this regard, both agreed to consider having an informal brain-storming session on the margin of the next SC Meeting to discuss how to further develop and strengthen the ICAPP as a more healthy and sustainable development of the ICAPP, including possible reforms in the structure and function of the Standing Committee.

In particular, CPC emphasized the need and efforts to uphold the ICAPP principle of consensus. It also stressed the importance of smooth communication among the SC Members and the Secretariat. It pointed out that on several occasions, CPC felt as if it were kept in darkness, and hoped that such cases will not be repeated in the future.

3.8th General Assembly

The plan to hold the 8th GA in Sri Lanka in September was confirmed. CPC supported the Secretariat’s efforts to finalize specifics of the GA, including the dates, main theme and other logistics, with the Freedom Party of Sri Lanka (SLFP).

3.Trilateral Meeting among Political Parties of China, Japan and Korea

The Secretariat proposed to hold a trilateral meeting among political parties of China, Japan and Korea in 2014 as a joint effort to promote peace and reconciliation in the East Asian region. In this regard, the Secretariat also expressed its willingness to pay a visit to Japan for a preparatory meeting to discuss specifics of the trilateral meeting and encourage more active cooperation of the leading political parties of Japan, if CPC confirms its endorsement of the proposal.

CPC, despite its positive recognition of the importance and necessity of holding the trilateral meeting in the near future, has expressed realistic difficulty of materializing such an event due to current diplomatic disputes in which all three nations are closely involved. CPC further suggested postponing the meeting until next year when political conditions improve.

4.Asian-Latin American Business Council

CPC suggested that the 1st Meeting of the Asian-Latin American Business Council is more suitable to be held in one of the Latin American countries, since various projects operating in the Latin American region could provide opportunities of investment for Asian corporations. In this regard, CPC pointed out the recent nomination of two business leaders of CPC as members of the Business Council, and wished for other member states to nominate two business leaders from their political parties to join the Business Council as soon as possible.

5.Trilateral Cooperation among the ICAPP, the COPPPAL and the CAPP

CPC welcomed the ICAPP’s commitments to convene the 1st trilateral conference among political parties in Asia, Latin America, and Africa with an aim of creating an umbrella body that represents all political parties across the world in the near future. CPC, however, expressed its hope that both the COPPPAL and CAPP would be more inclusive with region-wide participation of political parties in order to facilitate the trilateral cooperation.

In this regard, CPC reaffirmed its stance on the postponement of the 1st trilateral conference until the three organizations do an ample amount of preparatory work on how to mobilize the collaborative efforts and on topics for discussion which can capture the interests of all three continents and organizations.